Rookie Tazawa silences Yankees to help Red Sox break skid

BOSTON -- The Boston Red Sox piled up the runs for a second straight game. This time, a little-known rookie held the New York Yankees' lineup in check.

Kevin Youkilis homered twice and tied a career high with six RBIs, Junichi Tazawa stopped New York's big bats and Boston snapped a five-game skid against the Yankees with a 14-1 win Saturday.

Battered In Boston

Burnett allowed nine runs and nine hits in five innings as he continued to struggle at Fenway Park.

Highest Road ERAat Fenway Park(single season, min. 10 IP)

Year

IP

ERA

Dennis Martinez

1977

10.1

14.81

Bob Feller

1950

10.2

14.34

Red Ruffing

1939

11.1

14.29

Willis Hudlin

1940

11.1

14.29

George Caster

1940

12.0

14.25

A.J. Burnett

2009

12.2

14.21

"He did a good job," Boston manager Terry Francona said. "He gets a lineup that is dangerous probably on bad days and they come off swinging the bat like they did [Friday] night."

The Yankees beat the Red Sox 20-11 in the series opener with their most runs and hits (23) since July 20, 2007. But on Saturday, they left six runners in scoring position while Boston continued the slugging that has produced 49 runs in five games, four of them wins.

"Whatever happened, nobody can change that," said David Ortiz, who hit his 20th homer and drove in three runs. "You've just got to come the next day with a fresh mind and play the game. Simple. You've got to keep it simple."

The Red Sox roughed up A.J. Burnett and set a team record with their eighth consecutive multihomer game. Alex Gonzalez also connected for Boston, which has 39 homers in August with eight games left.

Tazawa (2-2) worked out of trouble all day, allowing eight hits and two walks in six shutout innings. In four of them, the Yankees had runners in scoring position with fewer than two outs but couldn't score. And after going 15 for 25 with runners in scoring position Friday, they were 0 for 9 on Saturday.

"I think it was just the law of averages," Mark Teixeira said. "We hit so well with runners on base last night. We hit a lot of balls well [Saturday] and they just didn't fall in."

Teixeira is expecting a much lower scoring game Sunday night when Boston's Josh Beckett and Yankees ace CC Sabathia try to become the majors' first 15-game winner.

"I would be shocked to see a 15-10 game," Teixeira said.

Tazawa spent the past four seasons with Nippon Oil ENEOS in the amateur Japan Industrial League. He appeared in just 53 games in that stretch, but the Red Sox signed him to a three-year major league contract in December.

"It was clear in spring training even before games began" that Tazawa could pitch inside aggressively, Boston pitching coach John Farrell said. "The mound presence and the poise that he has we knew that that would be something he would take to the mound today."

The 23-year-old right-hander made his major league debut at New York on Aug. 7 and allowed Alex Rodriguez's game-ending, two-run homer in the Yankees' 2-0 win in 15 innings.

In the third inning Saturday, he retired Rodriguez on a called third strike.

"I am satisfied that I could get a strikeout with him from my slider," Tazawa said through a translator.

He struck out two and completed his longest outing by getting Melky Cabrera to ground into a double play with runners at first and third.

The Yankees dropped to 15-4 in their last 19 games, a stretch that includes a four-game sweep of Boston. Their AL East lead over the Red Sox fell to 6½ games.

Burnett (10-7) got off to a rare poor start when he allowed three runs in the first on a two-run double by Ortiz and an RBI single by Jason Bay. In his 15 previous outings, Burnett allowed just one first-inning run.

"It seemed like he was shaking me off" a lot, catcher Jorge Posada said. "I asked for a certain pitch and he threw another one. It's frustrating."

The Red Sox added four runs in the second on Gonzalez's first homer since being acquired from Cincinnati on Aug. 14 and Youkilis' three-run shot.

Burnett allowed nine hits and a career-high nine runs in five innings, dropping to 0-3 in his last five starts.

Game notes

Boston scored 13 runs with two outs. ... New York LF Johnny Damon expects to return to the lineup Sunday night after suffering a bruised right knee when he fouled a ball off his leg Friday. ... Yankees captain Derek Jeter went 0 for 3 after entering the game on a 25-for-46 roll. ... Ortiz reached 20 homers for the eighth straight season, the last seven with the Red Sox. ... Hall of Famer and 1967 Triple Crown winner Carl Yastrzemski turned 70 on Saturday. ... The Red Sox called up RHP Enrique Gonzalez from Triple-A Pawtucket and sent RHP Michael Bowden to their top farm club.